Robotic Privacy Curtain Fails, But Amuses the Masses

More than ever, people are taking their online and real-life privacy more seriously. Swedish inventor Niklas Roy also felt that his privacy was being invaded on a more basic level--by passers-by looking in through his large workshop window. Most might have just opted for a normal curtain, but Niklas got inventive and created the robotic curtain.

The motorized curtain, which is less than half the size of the window, works by using a surveillance camera to detect where people are outside the window. The computer attached to the camera picks up on the movement and sends signals to get the curtain leaping into action.

Although the curtain is relatively accurate, it would only take a particularly fast mover (say, a runner) or a large volume of foot traffic to probably throw it off guard. As Niklas admits, it has also attracted even more attention to his window rather than deter, completely ruining the curtain’s objective. However, that doesn’t stop this little robot being kind of cool, and absolutely hilarious to watch.

Check out Niklas’s Website to get the AVR-GCC and Processing codes and schematics for the curtain if you want to give something similar a try.